Sir Henry William Ripley, 1st Baronet (23 April 1813 – 9 November 1882), was a British businessman, philanthropist and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician who switched to the Conservative Party. Ripley became a principal partner in Edward Ripley and Son, an important dyeing company based at Bowling Dyeworks, Bowling,

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

established by his grandfather in about 1806. In 1836 he married Susan Milligan of 'Acacia', Rawdon. West Yorkshire where he was living in 1881 with his family and a household of thirteen servants. In the late 1870s he bought an estate at

Bedstone Bedstone is a small village and civil parish in south Shropshire, England, close to the border with Herefordshire. The village is approximately from the railway stations at Hopton Heath and Bucknell and is situated just off the B4367 road. ...

, Shropshire and in about 1882-4 he built a new mansion house Bedstone Court in Shropshire which became the family seat. He was active in local politics and sat as a town councilor for the Borough of Bradford. He was also a JP, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and took an active role in founding and running the Yorkshire Penny Bank. In 1866 he commenced construction of

Ripley Ville Ripley Ville or Ripleyville was an estate of model houses for the working classes in the West Bowling ward of the city of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Started in 1866 the development was built for the industrialist, politician and ...

an estate of "model houses" for the working classes. When completed it had many of the aspects of an "industrial

model village A model village is a mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. "Model" implies an ideal to which other developments could aspire. Although the villages ...

" – though residents were not limited to H.W. Ripley's employees. Ripley Ville can be compared with

Akroydon The Akroydon model housing scheme is a Victorian-era model village at Boothtown, Halifax, in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It was designed in the Gothic style by George Gilbert Scott in 1859 for the worke ...

(Halifax, built by H.W Ripley's friend and former schoolmate

Edward Akroyd Lieutenant Colonel Edward Akroyd (1810–1887), English manufacturer, was born into a textile manufacturing family in 1810, and when he died in 1887, he still owned the family firm. He inherited "James Akroyd & Sons Ltd." from his father in 1 ...

) and with

Saltaire Saltaire is a Victorian model village near Shipley, West Yorkshire, England, situated between the River Aire, the railway, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Salts Mill and the houses were built by Titus Salt between 1851 and 1871 to allo ...

From 1868 he was also active in national politics. He was returned to Parliament for

as a Liberal at the 1868 general election, but his election was overturned on petition in 1869. He was re-elected at the 1874 general election as an Independent, but was defeated at the 1880 general election when he stood as a Conservative. In 1880 he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Rawdon in the County of York and Bedstone, Shropshire. He died in November 1882, aged 69, and was succeeded as second Baronet by his eldest son Edward. His third son Frederick was created a Baronet in his own right in 1897. A month after his death in 1882, the chimney at Newlands Mill in Bradford (owned by Sir Henry), collapsed killing 54 people, many children were among the dead. Although a jury at an inquest exonerated Sir Henry, an in depth report by the Telegraph and Argus launched a scathing attack on Sir Henry for the way the chimney was built under his instruction.

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, *

External links

Rediscovering Ripley Ville

My West Bowling
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripley, Henry 1813 births 1882 deaths Ripley, Sir Henry, 1st Baronet Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1868–1874 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 Politicians from Bradford